Class B State Meet Preview

Team Preview
The Class B State meet should be the most competitive, team wise, of all three meets. There are four teams that could possibly take the title if they have strong races. Falmouth will have the slight edge going into the meet. They have beaten Greely and Cape twice this year, and beat Caribou at the Festival of Champions in early October. The X Factor for Falmouth will be John Lake. If he runs the way he is capable of, then Falmouth will be in great position to win the title. Caribou is took its third Eastern B title in a row last Saturday as they beat Hampden Academy 52 points to 63. Look for them to be right up there with Falmouth. The X factor for Caribou will be freshmen Ryan Washington. He is usually their number four runner, but he came up huge on Saturday as he placed tenth. If Ryan Washington runs another race like that, Caribou will have a chance to take the title. Greely is looking for their fourth state title in a row. Their four and five runners are going to have to run a great race if they want to win on Saturday. Nate Madeira had an incredible race last week running just behind teammate Connor Reagan. If Greely wants to win he will have to run even better on Saturday. Cape is looking for their first title since 2006. They rely and their top three runners Thomas Bottomed, Reid Duty, and Leo Led man. They have all been consistent this year and expect them to all place in the top twenty. If Cape wants to win, Paul Trantina and Peter Doane will have to have great races.

PredictionFalmouth will win its first title since 2002 and John Lake and Thomas Edmonds will place in the top 15. Caribou will be right behind Falmouth with Christian Sleeper and DJ Flynn both placing in the top 15. The race for third spot will be very intriguing to watch. Cape and Greely are very evenly matched. It will all come down to the fifth runner which means that Paul Trantina of Cape and James Curry of Greely will have to run great. I like Trantina over Curry in this matchup. Expect Hampden Academy, York, and Ellsworth to fill in the next three spots. Other teams that will hunt for a top five finish are Ellsworth, Winslow, Maranacook, and Yarmouth.

Top 5
1. Falmouth
2. Caribou
3. Cape
4. Hampden Academy
5. York.

Individual
Preview
Silas Eastman of Fryeburg will be the overwhelming favorite to take the title on Saturday. Look for him to run a very fast time. If the weather conditions are up to par, then sub 16 is very likely for him. The battle for the runner up should be very interesting as well. Tim Follo of Falmouth has had a fantastic year and he placed second at the Western Regional’s running 16:37.50. Look for him to be right up there chasing Eastman. Freshmen Dan Curts of Ellsworth has had an incredible year. He took the Eastern Regional Championship on Saturday posting the fastest time of all classes (16:26.45) so expect him to be right there with Follo. Erksine’s Eben Hodgkins has had a great season as well. He placed second at the Eastern Regional’s running a time of 16:45.69. He, too, will battle for the second spot. Other runners who will contend for top ten finishes will be Evan Piccirillo of Hampden, Christian Sleeper of Caribou, Sam Johnston of Greely, Thomas Bottomley of Cape, Jeff Hale of Waterville, Ben Nickerson of Yarmouth, Ethan Burke of Hampden, and John Lake of Falmouth.

Prediction
Silas Eastman will take the crown winning by over 15 seconds. Follo and Curts will have a great battle for the runner up with Follo eventually coming out ahead. Eben Hodgkins will be fourth and Evan Piccirillo will take the fifth spot. The competition for the five through ten spots will be incredible. Don’t be surprised if other runners such as Mitchell Finitz of York, DJ Flynn of Caribou, Reid Douty of Cape, and Thomas Edmonds of Falmouth run to a top ten finish. All of these runners have run under 17:30 for the 5k. Here is how the top ten will look on Saturday:

1. Silas Eastman Fryeburg
2. Tim Follo Falmouth
3. Dan Curts Ellsworth
4. Eben Hodgkins Erksine
5. Evan Piccirillo Hampden
6. Sam Johnston Greely
7. Christain Sleeper Caribou
8. Jeff Hale Waterville
9. Thomas Bottomley Cape
10. Ben Nickerson Yarmouth